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Santa Clara County in California filed a lawsuit against Meta on Monday, alleging that the company intentionally profited from ads promoting scams on Facebook and Instagram. The lawsuit alleges that these practices violate California’s false advertising laws, according to A Reuters report.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all California residents and seeks compensatory damages, civil damages, and an order permanently barring Meta from engaging in such business practices.
according to Reuters 2025 report Citing leaked internal documents, Meta generated nearly $7 billion in annual revenue from such fraudulent ads. The complaint alleges that Meta used a combination of artificial intelligence and specialized targeting techniques to connect vulnerable users to fraudulent ads.
The district alleges that Meta not only tolerated these practices, but also created methods to prevent fraud and that it prioritized achieving its financial goals over user safety. Meta denied such allegations to Reuters last year, with a spokesperson telling the newspaper that it “aggressively combats fraud and scams” to protect its platforms.
A Meta spokesperson reiterated its fight against scams in an email to CNET.
“This claim relies on Reuters reporting that distorts our motives and ignores the full range of actions we take to combat fraud every day,” the spokesperson said. “We fight fraud aggressively on and off our platforms because it’s not in our best interests or the people and businesses that rely on our services. We’ve removed more than 159 million fraudulent ads in the past year alone, launched new tools to protect people, and partnered with law enforcement around the world to disrupt these criminals. We will fight this lawsuit.”
The Santa Clara County District Attorney has appointed three law firms to file the lawsuit: Bernstein, Litowitz, Berger and Grossman; Wren Public Law Group; and Bishop Partnoyalthough all final decisions will be made by the district.